DEV Community: Alexander Voloshyn

I added a tiny card shooter to a retrospective tool 🎯

Alexander Voloshyn — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 19:28:38 +0000

You know that moment before a meeting when someone says, “Let’s give everyone another minute”?
I gave that minute a tiny game.
I’m building Agilo, a tool for team retrospectives, and I’ve added a card shooter to the waiting room. Flying playing cards, a little “pew” when you hit one, and a score that suddenly feels very important.
Here’s a short clip of me playing:

The idea is simple: after debugging, reviewing PRs, and switching between tabs, sometimes you just want a minute to do something silly. Click a few cards. Chase one more hit. Give your brain a different thing to focus on before talking about the sprint.
The cards get faster as your score goes up, and there’s a shared leaderboard if your team enjoys a little friendly competition.
One design choice mattered to me: keep it optional. You can still add feedback while everyone gathers, and the facilitator can switch the game off or start the retro when the team is ready. A warm-up should fit into the waiting time, without becoming another agenda item.
You don’t need a meeting on your calendar to give it a go. If you fancy a small break, the retrospective demo is here:
🎯 Take a break. Shoot some cards.
What’s the most unnecessarily fun feature you’ve built into an otherwise serious app?

Meet Agilo's Retrospective Template Collection

Alexander Voloshyn — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:49:13 +0000

I’ve added a new collection of retrospective templates to Agilo to make preparing a team retro easier.

You’ll find familiar formats like Start, Stop, Continue for team habits, 4Ls for reflection and learning, and Sailboat for goals and obstacles. We’ll keep adding new formats to the collection.

Each template comes with a board preview, suggested duration and team size, example cards, and facilitation guidance. You can adjust columns and meeting settings during setup. Templates and guidance are available in English and Ukrainian.

Choose a format based on what your team needs to discuss. Before you finish the retro, turn one useful insight into a concrete next step with an owner.

Explore the retrospective template collection in Agilo.

Which format would you like to see next?

Discuss the Estimate Before Changing the Card

Alexander Voloshyn — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:34:40 +0000

Imagine a Planning Poker round: 3, 3, 3, 13.

Before anyone asks about the 13, that person clicks 3 instead. The cards match, and the team moves on.

But what happened to the concern behind the original estimate?

Maybe the ticket says “save search filters.” Most people picture saving one filter in the browser. The person who picked 13 is thinking about syncing filters across devices and sharing them with teammates.

That difference is worth a conversation. A quick card change can make it disappear before anyone hears it.

Keep the votes in place

planning poker has an optional room setting called Disable Voting After Reveal.

Turn it on, and voting is disabled once the cards are revealed. Participants can't click a different card to match the rest of the team.

The original spread stays visible while you ask: “What did you include that we might have missed?”

Private voting gives everyone space to choose independently. Keeping the cards fixed after reveal gives the team a chance to discuss those choices.

Changing your mind still makes sense

After hearing the missing context, a different estimate might be exactly right.

The sequence is simple:

Reveal the cards.
Discuss the difference and clarify the ticket.
Start a new round so everyone can vote again.

If the conversation leaves a key question unanswered, give it an owner before trying another vote.

How does your team handle a changed estimate after reveal?